NEW YORK (1010 WINS) -- Parents in Canarsie are speaking out after their son apparently died from smelling fish.
RELATED: Family believes fish odor killed 11-year-old Brooklyn boy | Officials: Boy, 11, dies from apparent allergic reaction to fish cooking at his grandmother's NY home
On New Year's night with Caribbean saltfish frying at his grandmother's house, holiday cheer became holiday horror as 11-year-old Cameron Jean-Pierre began gasping for air.
The boy's desperate father tried his son's asthma inhaler and CPR. He told ABC7 that his son gasped 'I feel like I'm dying.'
"My son's last words were 'daddy I love you.' He gave me two kisses," he said.
Cameron's mom said he son was allergic to fish when eating it, but simply smelling the frying fish may have killed him.
A man who owns a restaurant down the block was shocked at the news. He said it's the first he's heard of someone dying from the odor of fish.
"He only smelled fish?" the man said. "That's a sad story. Never heard of that in my life."
While allergies to fish and shellfish are certainly not uncommon, dying from the smell of cooked fish appears to be extremely rare, though the cloud of food proteins wafting in the air could lead to an allergic reaction.
According to the Department of Health and Human Services, food hypersensitivity by inhalation can be life-threatening.
"The exposure can be trivial, as in mere smelling or being in the vicinity of the food," according to a report.
